BEING

lonely can be as bad for someone’s health as having a long-term illness such as diabetes, or so said the Royal College of general Practitioners this week. For me, this emphasises that we are social animals. i worry that as the traditional family unit has broken down and families live further apart, more and more people are living isolated lives, particularly the elderly. But we can all help. Why should it be down to doctors or social workers to find ways of tackling such loneliness? i remember an elderly patient i had a few years ago. She was withdrawn, unkempt and depressed. i struggled to know what to do to help her. in desperation, i referred her to a befriending service run by a charity. A volunteer started popping in once a week for tea and a chat. Over the next few months, she was transformed. She began doing her hair, seemed brighter and even started smiling again. There’s no pill that could have achieved that.